Wednesday, 27 April 2011

I LOVED this film! A great cast and characters, great effects, great storyline and great humour! If you loved Iron Man, you will love this too!The film starts with Odin (brilliantly played by Anthony Hopkins) who is King of Asgard and is at war with the Frost Giants. These scenes are amazing and I wish there was more of them...and I hadn't originally seen anything to do with the Frost Giants in the trailer so I was surprised and happy to see them on screen...a film just about them could actually be amazing! Predictably, they were defeated but they are still very much present throughout the whole film as they try to retrieve the source of their energy (a casket) which was removed by Odin and kept in Asgard in the battle that had happened several years earlier.In the present, Thor (Odin's son) is about to ascend to the throne when the ceremony is interrupted by Frost Giants trying to retrieve the casket. This angers Thor so he heads to Jotenheim (the Frost Giants home world) with his friends and brother Loki, to confront them. A mini-but still entertaining-battle takes place and Odin arrives to save them when they are in trouble. Due to Thor's actions by disturbing the 'peace', Odin strips his son from his hammer which is the source of his power and sends him to Earth.I won't go on anymore but Thor's presence on Earth is definitely the most entertaining part of the film, and the presence of S.H.I.E.L.D (also from Iron Man) makes it even more so! I wasn't sure about the chemistry between Thor and Natalie Portman's character Jane Foster, but it didn't really matter as this was far from being a romantic film! I also loved Kat Dennings as her assistant, Darcy Lewis (although I think they should have been sisters!)...she was really funny and I am keen to see her other films now!Overall, a great film, although I was very gutted that I didn't hang around after the credits (a bad habit of mine - I like to shoot straight out the exit when a film ends!) as a friend had told me that there was a very important scene after them!

Saturday, 16 April 2011

I love fairy tales being used as inspiration for films, so when I learned that Amanda Seyfried was filming 'Red Riding Hood' a few months ago, I looked forward to its release! However, I did find it quite annoying how it kept being promoted as being 'from the Director of Twilight'...I mean the fact that it had Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman already made it appealing! Although I did find it amusing that Billy Burke played her father when he also played Bella Swan's father in Twilight!There is a lot going on in the film so I'm not too sure where to start...but the film is a bit of a cliche, although I did think some of the cinematography was beautiful.

One thing that I thought was weird was her name, Valerie. It absolutely did not suit Amanda Seyfried at all! Anyway, she is in love with her childhood friend but her family promises her to someone else...in between all of that, there is a Wolf that terrorizes the village which introduces us to Gary Oldman's character, Father Soloman, who is a witch hunter. He certainly gave the film a bit of panache and the performance from himself and Amanda Seyfried really showed up the rest of the cast, which was actually quite dull in comparison.Father Soloman explains to the village that the Wolf is in fact a Werewolf and could therefore be someone in the village....thus prompting the viewers to try and figure out who it may be! There are many instances where it is really obvious with who it is...and I wish I could say we were right from the start but admittedly, I was surprised at the end!! For me, the film is forgetful and I can't help but feel it was trying to be the new 'Twilight'...which is impossible as Twilight already had many fans from the books, prior to the film release.

However, my 14 year old sister really liked it so I guess it has appealed to its target audience.

Thursday, 14 April 2011

I attended the ASOS AW/11 Press Day and as always, found some really fantastic pieces that inspired me for Autumn! The set up was modern and much more spacious than it had previously been which allowed me to appreciate each area properly.

The middle section had a long table filled with shoes and accessories...which all looked brilliant and I have my eyes on a pair of shoes when they are to hit the site in a few months time.I always forget about Menswear on my blog, even though I have had emails requesting I blog about it more! I find it interesting and have a little experience with it when I had to make a tailored jacket at University, but as I am not really exposed to it, I can forget!

However, I didn't forget about it this time as I had to walk through ASOS Menswear to get to Womenswear! It all looked very slick and super creative...it wasn't just about the clothes, it was about the overall mood too. My favourite area was definitely the Tailoring section.ASOS BLACK (Menswear) also looked great which were displayed alongside televisions with white noise. Like I previously said, I loved the creativity of each setting! However, I started thinking about 'The Ring' (when the girl crawls out the TV) and 'White Noise'...both extremely scary films!!Overall, both Menswear and Womenswear looked great and I look forward to seeing it all on the site in due course!

Saturday, 9 April 2011

Continuing with my current handmade soap obsession, is my purchase from Sweet Sally's Soaps where I bought a $25/£15 voucher for $9/£5 via Heartsy(a type of Groupon/Living Social for handmade).I went for some Vanilla Coffee Body Butter, Organic Lilac Soap, Activated Charcoal & Tea Tree Soap and Castile/Olive Oil Soap.Firstly, the Vanilla Coffee Body Butter is exactly what it says! I could not believe how potent the smell was, it was almost a shock! I was definitely not disappointed with this as I love the smell of Vanilla and Coffee, but it was too overpowering for me! I definitely got what I wanted with that product, but I think it would be better for someone that loves a strong smell. The Lilac Soap was much more my cup of tea! The scent was subtle with a lovely floral fragrance.I was curious about the Activated Charcoal & Tea Tree Soap because I had noticed many other soap sellers offering this mix which made me do a little research and I found out that this soap was supposedly good for problem skin, so I decided to buy it for my sister's mild acne. She has been using it for almost a month now and I really do think it has cleared some of her spots. I knew it would do something (even though she was very dubious) because when I had spots as a teenager, tea tree oil was always great to use. Lastly, the Castile/Olive Oil Soap was so lovely to use, it is almost scentless and it certainly helped my dry skin.I have many more soaps to review, I just need some time to get through them all! Check back soon!

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

When I had seen the trailer to this film, I knew that I just HAD to watch it on the big screen, this was not going to be a home movie for me! However, although it was a better experience and that I had to pay so much (cinemas are so expensive nowadays!!), my expectations were naturally raised and I think my review would be even more positive if I had watched it at home!If you've been following my blog, you will know that I love Fantasy/Action films that have a strong female lead such as Resident Evil, Underworld etc...so with Sucker Punch having a group of 5 strong females sounded excellent!The intro was brilliant and was a great setting for the rest of the film...it is very creative with a fantastically haunting version of 'Sweet Dreams' as the audio, which I later found out was sung by Emily Browning who plays the lead female role. This scene explains how Emily Browning's character 'Babydoll' ends up in a mental institute called Lennox House, which I was pleased to spot could possibly have been named after Annie Lennox (who originally sang 'Sweet Dreams'!).

On entering the institute, we are introduced to the other characters and it is revealed that their lives there are taken advantage of by one of the staff members, Blue Jones...who is very creepy but fantastically played by Oscar Isaac. However, the viewer doesn't really know what happens to the girls, but we can guess. However, when Babydoll is asked to perform an erotic dance, her mind enters a fantasy world which were my favourite parts and also had a brilliant soundtrack! Her fantasy world also reflects part of her 'real' life' which is made clear when she meets a 'Wise Man' who instructs her with what she needs to do to escape - i.e. to escape the institute. Her first battle are with three stone samurais which was SO fun to watch! When she defeats them, we are transported back to the 'real world' where she has finished dancing. My sister and I both felt that we should have seen some of the dancing...but it never happened, not even once! This was a bit frustrating and we felt it was probably an easy way out of the actress being unable to dance or not having time for the choreography, or not a good enough choreography - it was all negative speculation! However, we later find out that the dance scenes are available to see on the DVD, but I don't think we will ever be getting it.Emily Browning's character was one of the best, which surprised me when there were 5 of them altogether, but she still came across as very strong and memorable. I wasn't that bothered with the performance by Jamie Chung, Vanessa Hudgens or Jena Malone and actually found them quite irritating. However, I really loved Abbie Cornish's character 'Sweet Pea' and the twist in the storyline at the end made me feel that I was manipulated into liking her! You'll know what I mean when you watch it.Overall, a really great film although I haven't read many good reviews...but I think the soundtrack was very memorable, complementing to the scenes and played a big part with influencing how I felt about the entire film! My favourite song is 'Army of Me' by Bjork and Skunk Anansie (which has actually been around for ages but I have only heard it for the first time in Sucker Punch!)...I've been playing it on my iShuffle ever since!!

Monday, 4 April 2011

At first look, this product is quite scary but it really blends into your skin and leaves a lovely sun-kissed glow. I don't wear concealer/foundation (I think seeing girls at school covered in the wrong shade put me off for life) but I must always wear my Nivea Soft moisturiser so this is subtle enough for me to use alongside it without feeling 'caked' in make-up! The Eyeko 3-in-1 Tinted Cream is basically a tinted moisturiser, but I have yet to have the guts to use it everywhere, I think it would be way too much for me!
It is quite expensive at £8 if you are to use it all over your face, everyday... but the amount I personally use each time (not everyday) will have it lasting me forever!

Sunday, 3 April 2011

I have always liked Sandra Bullock films (especially comedies) and wanted to watch The Proposal when it was released two years ago but never got round to it, until now! I have also found Ryan Reynolds great at doing comedies so I thought this film with them both would be hilarious, and I was right!
My sister and I were laughing our way all through it...but the most belly-aching scene is when they both accidentally run into each other naked...the timing was just perfect, although I do wonder how many takes that took! ...it had me and my sister in tears for ages!
The plot is simple, Sandra Bullock's character Margaret is the executive editor-in-chief for a book publishing company and finds out that she is to be deported back to Canada due to an expired visa. In a panic, she tells her bosses that she is actually marrying her assistant, Andrew, who actually doesn't really like her, so it is very entertaining watching her trying to convince him! You can probably guess what will happen, as comedy plot-lines do often follow the same ingredients...but it is all very amusing to watch nevertheless!!

Saturday, 2 April 2011

I think this was my sister's favourite Harry Potter film and it is definitely darker and much more intricate in comparison to the previous films. The main storyline is that Hogwarts are hosting the Triwizard Tournament where three wizards are to compete in three difficult tasks. Harry is underage but the Goblet reveals his name as the fourth component which implicates Harry as some sort of cheat! It was also quite amusing for us to see the young Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory, one of the competitors!I definitely enjoy seeing the students in their Defence against the Dark Arts lessons, as something new is always revealed, and something that you just know will play an extremely significant part in the story is introduced. This time it was the inception of the three Unforgivable curses which was great and dramatic to watch!This film also shows the relationship between Ron and Hermione who clearly 'fancy' each other! Ron also becomes very jealous when Hermione attends the Yule ball with Viktor Krum. Hermione looks her most beautiful in this scene and as the viewer, you suddenly start to notice that they are all actually teenagers now!

My favourite task was when the competitors had to collect someone precious to them in the Black Lake, from mermaids...and I loved the look of them!!The last section of the film was fantastic. There is a death which totally darkens the mood and changes the Harry Potter films from being just a film for kids. Voldemort is definitely an amazing character and Ralph Fiennes is the perfect cast for the role.

I don't wear much make-up at all, but I love to curl my eyelashes! So when I spotted some eyelash curlers on ASOS.COM by Tweezerman for Benefit discounted from £15 to £10.85, I thought it was time to replace my very cheap and tattered H&M eyelash curlers which really weren't doing much to my eyelashes anymore!
Like with all Benefit packaging, it was adorable and so perfect for gift giving. I have still kept the box as I'm sure I could use it for something else! Both the Benefit and Tweezerman brands have a good reputation so I knew I wouldn't be let down with the product, even though I would be comparing it to a much cheaper version!
The curlers also come with three replacement pads which is super important! However, the most important thing is how good they are! At first, I found the curlers very stiff, but in comparison to my H&M ones, they are probably just normal! The shaping for the eye is also great and I was really able to get to the root to do the triple step technique for curling eyelashes - a bit at the base, a bit in the middle, and a bit in the top ... so you get a nice curl, rather than a right angle! They curled wonderfully and I wish I had looked into getting better curlers sooner! However, as I originally saw them as expensive, I would happily pay the full £15 for them now as I use them everyday and they are a great quality. Highly recommended.

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Welcome to my blog! I am a full-time Designer in London for a fashion brand... but also have a whole load of other interests including making anything and everything - click on the huge SHOP sign above to check it all out.Also, feel free to use the tags below to navigate my blog posts!